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April 9, 2018 - 5:45pm
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Stereo integrated amp for B&W 805 D3
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caphill will be able to tell you the difference between those two amps.
I just heard these driven by Naim gear and was really impressed. I don’t know the exact model of integrated I was listening too but was very pleasantly surprised. The soundstage was wide and deep and it sounded really natural to me. I could listen to that combo all day without fatigue.
The Rotel is a very good amplifier, and I am sure you would be very happy with it.
Another one that is excellent is the Musical Fidelity M3si, which is only $1500 and would be perfect for your speakers.
It has everything you are looking for, including digital and phono input circuits. It also has plenty of power.
Bierfeldt, thank you for your inputs and advise.
I will look into and try to find Naim dealer around. I want to try other integrated amps before buying one.
That Rotel RA-1592 sounded very good on the B&W 805 D3 and it's only $2500 and has DAC cause I will be needing a DAC in the integrated. So, that Naim that you listened to, does it have onboard DAC or just an analog integrated?
I have listened to some higher end Naim separates (streamer, DAC, separate PSU, preamp, power amp) paired with some top of line PMC speakers and they sounded very good very natural, smooth, refined and very musical.
But I've never heard any Naim integrated before.
Commsysman, thank you for your input and thought.
Yes, the Rotel RA-1592 integrated sounded really good on the B&W 805 D3.
And I will look into the Musical Fidelity M3Si. Now, does the M3Si have onboard DAC? My dealer does not have Musical Fidelity and I will find one that has.
I did some investigating and the unit I listened to was the Naim Uniti Nova which for $6996 probably should sound good. It has every digital feature you could want including multiple streaming services and evidently pretty good software. The Naim uniti Atom at $2995 is a very interesting choice.
The new Ayre EX-8 is $7500 and is supposed to have a great feature set though I hear the software interface is a bit buggy. Probably not a helpful option.
Another really cool option might be the Simaudio Neo ACE at $3500. Killer feature set and I have always like the way there equipment sounds.
Bierfeldt thank you again for your recommendations. I will try to find dealers that have them. My local dealer has higher end series Naim separates on display for demo but not the Unity integrateds. They even have the Naim Statement gear (analog preamp + monoblock amps) on display for demo. The Naim Statement cost $270k. Crazy expensive but extraordinary. The sound and performance the best I've heard and they are the most expensive gears I've ever listened to at the shop.
Bierfeldt, I've never listened to any Ayre gears before but have always been impressed with Simaudio separates in the past. They were the Simaudio Evolution monoblock amps that I had chance to listen to last year when deciding between the Simaudio monoblock amps vs the Classe Delta-CAM 600 monoblock amps for my B&W 800 D3 in my main setup. They both were spectacular amps but in the end I went with the Classe CAM-600. IMO the Classe is a better match for my B&W 800 D3. It was a tough decision though as both amps were spectacular and they both are analog (class AB) amplifiers.
They also had me listen to the McIntosh MC601 monoblock amps for my B&W 800 D3 but I wasn't that impressed with them. IMO the Simaudio Evolution and the Classe CAM-600 amps were better than the MC601 at least on the B&W. The outcome might have been different if paired with other and different speakers.
Anyways, I will have to give a listen to the Naim Unity Nova for my small B&W 805 D3. I am also still considering the Classe Sigma 2200i integrated and will have to find a dealer that has both the Classe Sigma 2200i and the Naim Unity Nova so that I can compare them both.
In regards to Classe Sigma 2200i vs Rotel RA-1592, the Classe will be a better choice. The RA-1592 is very good as well especially for the money. But the Classe sound is more resolved, cleaner, faster, better PRAT, better at extracting subtle musical information and nuances than the Rotel. The Rotel however fuller sound, bloomier mids with weightier low frequency grunt than the Classe but can't compete with the Classe in terms of resolution, detail retreivals, speed, agility, pace, rhytms. With the Classe you can easily follow every individual instruments and vocals better than Rotel and it images slightly better too. The soundstage is larger broader and three-dimensional like with the Classe and sounds livelier too. With the Rotel RA-1592 however, the music has a sense of better fluidity and sounded more liquid than the Classe.
They both are good but the Classe Sigma 2200i is better overall imo. But the Sigma 2200i will digitize its analog inputs (XLR & RCA).
The Naim Unity Nova is another spectacular unit and I would seriously look into this. The Naim has better streamer, master clock, DAC than both the Rotel and even the Sigma 2200i. Well....the Sigma 2200i does not have DAC. it is a direct digital integrated amp. Both the Naim Unity Nova and the Classe Sigma 2200i are great.
Give them a listen to both and only you can decide. The Naim imo is more natural and has slight better rhytm than the Classe Sigma 2200i. The Ayre and the Simaudio are excellent choices as well.
Audio Research Foundation series integrated is great. Might be a good match for your 805 D3.
Mark Levinson also recently released a new integrated amp with built-in DAC/streamer. Haven't heard it yet.
Another good and cheaper option would be the Rega Elicit-R analog integrated plus Rega DAC or Rega cd players.
Excellent suggestions as above.
Surprisingly, the 805 is very easy to drive.
You should look at the Devialet Expert Pro integrated amp. It is a preamp, amp, DAC, streamer and phono stage are streamlined in a single razor-thin slab that sounds better than anything I have ever heard before. If you live in NYC they can even provide you with a free at-home demo with your speakers if you call the soho store